Dave Camp, '75, to Retire from Congress

Albion alumnus Dave Camp, currently serving his 12th term as a congressman representing counties in central and northern Michigan, announced earlier this week that he will not seek re-election this fall.

Since 2011, the Midland native has served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over, among other things, taxes, Social Security and Medicare; traditionally the person in that role is considered among the most powerful in Washington.

“This decision was reached after much consideration and discussion with my family,” Camp said in a statement on his website. “Serving in Congress is the great honor of my professional life.”

Camp said addressing the tax code will be among the tasks he focuses on most over the next nine months. It would be a continuation of the diligent behind-the-scenes work for which he’s become best known.

In a statement to the media, Oregon Rep. Greg Walden called Camp “a role model to us all” and that “it simply won’t be the same around here without Dave’s leadership.”

In the Midland Daily News, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, an Albion College trustee and former U.S. Representative who hired Camp as a congressional aide, said, “Dave Camp has been an outstanding Congressman for mid-Michigan and for America. His ability to reach consensus on a wide variety of issues from trade and export policies to adoption and tax reform has been exceptional. The Congress will miss Dave’s expertise and steady hand. Mid-Michigan will miss his phenomenal leadership.”

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